Anyone ever buy at VB or HHI with little to no intentions of staying there?

[Crazy4Disney06]

Just a random thought before I put in my offer on BWV tomorrow, but if a person traveled during non peak seasons and was okay with the 7 month booking window......realistically couldn't they get a much better deal as far as number of points and cost per point by buying into VB or HHI? My family almost always travels during the fall would it be unrealistic to think we could possibly save money buy doing it this way?

 

[zavandor]

I am evaluating wich resort to buy myself and I had a similar doubt.
But you should also consider the annual MF, that are the highest for those resorts and you pay every year. Those add up quickly.
And even if you'll travel often off-peak, you never know what might change in your life in the future and owning off property you might never be able to book a period that you would like.

Moreover, off peak for WDW is not always off peak for DVC. For example, for early December or October is very difficult to get a DVC reservation at 7 months, because it costs less points. It's easier in seasons when points per night are higher, but in this way you are not saving buying cheap points in another resort, because you end up using more for your stay.

 

[disneynutz]

You will spend more on dues over the course of ownership than the purchase price.

Beach property costs more to maintain and doesn't do well in hurricanes.

If it seems to good to be true it usually is.

You get what you pay for.

If it is such a good deal, everyone would be doing it.

Bill

 

[n2mm]

When you crunch your numbers, watch the dues for those locations. That's what kept us away from buying there. I would suggest buying a home in WDW if that's where you want to go. You can get a good deal at OKW and SSR. While one of my homes is SSR, I've never stayed there. I didn't purchase with that intention, it's just that every time I've booked, there's always been some place else available. I purchased at SSR because that was the best deal when I bought in in 2005. Keep in mind that the price of the resort is just one aspect to the purchase. There are other factors too. Since I'm assuming we are talking about resale that already limits your use of your points. We don't know what's down the road for resale purchases. My last purchase was a resale, but I have many other points that are direct purchase points, so I have options.

 

[lovin'fl]

We have 200 points at OKW (bought those in 2006 because they were the cheapest with the lower MFs...we would have bought HH then but didn't want to pay the higher MFs). We are now adding on at HHI and I wish all our points were there. HH is tough to book at the 7 month window and we now like the idea of alternating between HH and WDW (actually plan to do every third year with a random vacay thrown in).

Our thoughts are that we'd like to save on the costs of park tickets, dining and airfare by doing a vacay at HH and our teenaged kids keep asking to go to the beach (we did a cruise to Canada this summer and they kept asking where the beach was and saying how bored they were...we also just did Xmas at WDW and my DS-15 was very bored and said he wished he could have stayed home).

So, IMO, HHI is the best resort to buy at. I also wonder if we could use them to book a HH stay for another DVC member who could, in turn, use their points at BCV to book a stay for us. We've been wanting to stay there and that's another place that is tough to get in the 7 month window.

I say...if you want to mostly stay at VB, HH, BCV, the treehouses or VWL then you should buy points there (at that specific resort) as those are the tough places to book. If you don't care where you stay or you prefer BWV, SSR (non-treehouses), OKW, BLT or AKL then buy the cheapest points you can.

 

[chalee94]

couldn't they get a much better deal as far as number of points and cost per point by buying into VB or HHI?

yes. much cheaper per pt up front - that is true.

as others have said, this is not a great idea, though. the first time you get locked out of booking at wdw at the 7 month window and potentially have to let those pts go to waste, your cost savings up front won't make you feel any better... (and while you can typically find something at 7 months, it's not wise to assume that that will always be the case.)

if you're ok with higher risk scenarios, then take the up front savings...but there's a reason those contracts are so much cheaper...

 

[Dean]

Just a random thought before I put in my offer on BWV tomorrow, but if a person traveled during non peak seasons and was okay with the 7 month booking window......realistically couldn't they get a much better deal as far as number of points and cost per point by buying into VB or HHI? My family almost always travels during the fall would it be unrealistic to think we could possibly save money buy doing it this way?

It would be cheaper at HH long term but not VB unless you bought a subsidized contract. You'd lose the 11 month option as you note. IMO, the risk, aggravation and meager current savings aren't enough to risk it. HH and VB are also the resorts with a real risk of departing the system. For WDW the cheapest on site option is likely the best value and that will almost always be SSR or OKW extended but it depends on price.

 

[G'sMaman]

Just a random thought before I put in my offer on BWV tomorrow, but if a person traveled during non peak seasons and was okay with the 7 month booking window......realistically couldn't they get a much better deal as far as number of points and cost per point by buying into VB or HHI? My family almost always travels during the fall would it be unrealistic to think we could possibly save money buy doing it this way?

I will pm you a calculator that shows the total cost of ownership over the life of the various DVC contracts. You will see that that both resorts will cost you more over the long haul (all other factors being equal), esp. VB.

 

[Sandisw]

While traveling in the fall may be a low attendance time for the parks, it can be a busy time, at least from October on.

I would caution anyone who wants to stay at WDW to buy a WDW property. When you own DVC, you own the right to stay at your home resort. As long as your resort, remains part of the "club", you can stay at other DVC resorts.

However, if your resort is removed from the club, then your only choice is where you own. While this may be unlikely, this is within the rights of your contract.

If you are willing to be flexible with home resort, then I would go with SSR or OKW so at least you can book on property.

Good luck!

 

[Dean]

I will pm you a calculator that shows the total cost of ownership over the life of the various DVC contracts. You will see that that both resorts will cost you more over the long haul (all other factors being equal), esp. VB.

All other factors are not equal though. One has to account for the cost difference up front and the difference in value if the end date is significantly different. There's far more to it than just comparing dues.

 

[crisi]

While traveling in the fall may be a low attendance time for the parks, it can be a busy time, at least from October on.

I would caution anyone who wants to stay at WDW to buy a WDW property. When you own DVC, you own the right to stay at your home resort. As long as your resort, remains part of the "club", you can stay at other DVC resorts.

However, if your resort is removed from the club, then your only choice is where you own. While this may be unlikely, this is within the rights of your contract.

If you are willing to be flexible with home resort, then I would go with SSR or OKW so at least you can book on property.

Good luck!

I don't think its terribly likely to be COMPLETELY locked out at seven months in the fall. However, I don't think its terribly likely to find yourself booking at BWV or BCV for most of the fall at seven months and since the OP is offering on a BWV contract, I'd assume BWV has appeal.

 

[G'sMaman]

All other factors are not equal though. One has to account for the cost difference up front and the difference in value if the end date is significantly different. There's far more to it than just comparing dues.

I agree. I think we're trying to make the same point - that's why I said "all factors being equal" because you can't take the calculator too literally since all factors are not equal. In addition to the cost difference upfront, one has to take into account the fact that dues don't increase at the same rate. The tool is not meant to be perfect, but just gives you an idea of how the mf really adds up over the life of the contract.

 

[zavandor]

G'sMaman can you please PM me too the calculator?
I have done one myself, but it's much more limited (it's just to compare the cost of one vacation in the first year) and I would be very interested in your.

 

[chalee94]

In addition to the cost difference upfront, one has to take into account the fact that dues don't increase at the same rate. The tool is not meant to be perfect, but just gives you an idea of how the mf really adds up over the life of the contract.

the thing that you seem to miss is the "time value of money" and inflation.

a dollar today is not at all worth the same as a dollar in 30 years.

it would be like living in 1980 and seeing that wdw tickets cost about $8 for one day...and saying that if wdw tickets cost $85 in 30 years, no one would go any more...

 

[G'sMaman]

the thing that you seem to miss is the "time value of money" and inflation.

a dollar today is not at all worth the same as a dollar in 30 years.

it would be like living in 1980 and seeing that wdw tickets cost about $8 for one day...and saying that if wdw tickets cost $85 in 30 years, no one would go any more...

How do you know I haven't taken into account inflation when you haven't seen the tool? It's actually part of the calculator and allows you to adjust for inflation (default is 3 percent but you can change it as appropriate). Here is the link:

http://www.dvcproplan.com/buy.php

As I said before, it's not a perfect tool, but gives new buyers some sense of what the lifetime of a DVC contract might end up costing them. As just about everyone has stated, the purchase price is only one part of the overall costs.

 

[zavandor]

Looking at the last years, I read that MF has gone up about 3% per year, while the hotel rack rates gone up about 5% per year. If that continues this way DVC will be more and more convenient, but I don't know what will happen when the Resort will age more, maybe MF will skyrocket.
What happens with other timeshare who are out there since the '70?

 

[DenLo]

There are lots of members that do that, buy at VB or HHI because they are cheap but then they pay the higher annual dues or worse a hurricane hits and the dues jump in price.

When we calculated our expense of joining the DVC we found that the initial cost is used up with 6 or 7 vacations. Then the big expense is the annual dues. If you own HHI or VB that can be hefty especially if you keep the contracts for 20 or 30 years or more.

I prefer having a WDW resort because that is mainly where we will be staying. And I have the option of booking at the 11 month mark for those times when it's hard to get a reservation.

 

[Dean]

I agree. I think we're trying to make the same point - that's why I said "all factors being equal" because you can't take the calculator too literally since all factors are not equal. In addition to the cost difference upfront, one has to take into account the fact that dues don't increase at the same rate. The tool is not meant to be perfect, but just gives you an idea of how the mf really adds up over the life of the contract.

It'd be a little more complicated but to figure in a price difference and return of principle on the difference along with the yearly dues over a period of time isn't that difficult. In the end I think you'll find what that VB is more expensive and HH a little less so but no where near enough to justify the risk and aggravation of having no 11 month window at WDW.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

Thank you all for the advise. We went ahead and put in an offer today on a property at OKW, now just waiting to hear back

 

[ToddyLu]

Congrats and keep us posted.